


Respawn

by DynamicKea



Series: Cheating Death [2]
Category: The Yogscast
Genre: A Character is Death, AU, Conversation, Gen, Other Yogs mentioned, Unimportant Background Events, Wind Elemental Martyn
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2015-04-03
Updated: 2015-04-03
Packaged: 2018-03-21 02:54:38
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,638
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/3674775
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/DynamicKea/pseuds/DynamicKea
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Rythian wants some answers from Nilesy, and to make one request. A party thrown by the dwarf and spaceman seems a good opportunity.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Respawn

There was a party going down. According to Zoey, Xephos and Honeydew were attempting to diffuse all the “cold war tensions,” via dwarven means. This turned out to translate to "they would try to get everyone in the neighbourhood drunk for one night." That would be handy, at least for him. Nobody would notice one small conversation among many. Most of them would probably be nursing too great a headache to notice who was among them the previous night.

On the fields before Honeydew Inc, lights were strung from hut to hut. They were massive and gaudy things that switched between orange and purple every few seconds. Music boomed from the edge of the courtyard surrounded by the three little huts, frequently switching between tracks as Minty and Ravs argued.

In the centre of the courtyard, right in front of the fountain, Xephos was watching over what looked like an apple bobbing contest. The spaceman looked fairly bemused. Even so he remained sitting on the fountain edge, making sure the increasingly tipsy Sips and Sjin didn’t drown each other.

_Let them drown,_ Rythian thought. _That would be one problem down._

Overhead came the cheerful whooping from what looked like a boy in green, bobbing and weaving between the owls. Rythian still wasn’t sure how Martyn was able to fly unaided, and his cheerful response of “Maaaagic,” was not helping matters. On a rooftop nearby Toby was throwing acorns at his friend. The two kept laughing and mocking one another, their voices ringing between the music and across the little courtyard.

The rail brothers were also present. They had disappeared with frustrated looks as the sun had set, glaring at the minecart system that spiralled across the edges of the houses and reared into the shadows. Rythian hadn’t seen them since.

Rythian had only briefly spotted Lalna. He didn’t need to turn his head to know that Lalna was still hiding in the house with a drawing of beer hanging above it. Honeydew was in there too, and in the brief gaps of silence when Ravs or Minty took control of the radio Rythian could hear the pair talking. It was never enough to know exactly what they were saying. However, the few snatches of “It’s a goddamn _party_ , Lalna,” and “You’re being ridiculous,” let him know the gist.

An irritated squawk of an owl made Martyn cut off mid-sentence. Then came the strident tones of Lomadia, followed by hasty apologies from Martyn and Toby.

Finally, Rythian found him. In the chaos formed from acorns being thrown at owls and the music whipping from track to track, Nilesy had found one tiny bench to the side of a hut. The little who-knew-what was grinning brightly at the entire scene before him. Every now and then he looked down and scowled at his drink.

Nilesy didn’t react beyond a nod of acknowledgement as Rythian slid down to sit beside him. The wood was warm like it had been sitting in the sun for several hours, as opposed to the cold night air. Barks of laughter came from the fountain, Xephos yelling indignantly.

‘You’re not floating this time,’ Rythian said, pitching his voice under the music.

Out of the corner of Rythian’s eyes, he saw Nilesy freeze. His hands slowly lowered his drink to his lap, the rest of Nilesy's body unmoving. Rythian could almost see Nilesy's attention _snap_ from the party to him even though his eyes remained fixed on the owls.

Nilesy blinked.

Like a switch had been thrown Nilesy began to move once more. There was an odd fluidity to his movements now. It was almost more cat like, more guarded and more flighty than before.

'Floating?' Nilesy said. 'I think you've had a bit too much to drink, Rythian.'

Now that was strange. Nilesy's tone was light, joking even. Just as casual as if he really did believe the words, as if he really believed that Rythian had just drunk too much. Yet there was a fear in his eyes, a fear that tightened his smile. His eyes weren't moving.

'Save it, Nilesy,' Rythian said. 'I'd have to agree with you. Death by creeper is embarrassing.'

In an instance Nilesy changed again. From the cat like fluidity he seemed to sag, even though he barely moved. 'Well. Crap. I don't suppose I can convince you that it was all a dream?'

'You realise that you just confirmed that I _did_ die and I wasn't hallucinating?'

'Yeah. Damn. Please don't tell any of them?'

Rythian's fingers were drumming against his hilt. 'Maybe. I’ve got some questions for you about that night, and a favour.’

‘Damn. Fine, if you keep quiet about this. Please,’ Nilesy muttered.

‘I might, it depends. First question: what the hell are you, exactly?' Rythian said.

In front of them, Xephos yelped. It looked like Sips and Sjin had decided that they were going to bob for spacemen instead of apples.

'That's sort of hard to explain.'

'We've got all night.'

Nilesy nodded. With a sigh, he picked up his drink and began to swirl it. 'The simple version is that I'm Death.'

'Like Herobrine.'

' _No._ ' Nilesy glared at Rythian. 'Herobrine is an _ass_. He's basically the head of this galaxy’s sector-'

' _Sector?_ Jesus....' Rythian briefly considered if he should risk getting some of the punch Martyn had brought. This was not going to be a fun talk. No, the punch had been out in the open for too long. Sips had probably already messed with it. 'But the basic idea is the same, isn't it? We die, you take us to hell-'

'I'm gonna have to stop you there.' Nilesy gave the rest of the party a nervous glance, then returned his gaze to his drink. 'I wouldn't take you to hell, I'd well, more throw you towards the various afterlives.'

'Wh- why _throw_ us?'

'I'm not allowed there...' Nilesy said petulantly. ' _They_ all think I'll get _ideas_. So don't ask what happens after you die all proper like.'

Rythian nodded. It was a numb motion, designed more to move the conversation forward than a sense of agreement. 'R-right. That _was_ going to be my second question. What _can_ you tell me, about what happens if one of us die for real?'

'Not much. Listen, I’m really pushing my luck if I just tell you all about it. You get one question on this, alright? And not too broad, something specific.’

‘...Does it hurt?’

‘No idea. Sorry, that’s a little bit of a cop out... do you want another shot?’

Rythian narrowed his eyes at Nilesy, who didn’t look nearly as intimidated as when he had been suggesting crappy pool ideas all those months ago. He looked a lot more like he was about to stab Rythian. ‘I’ll think about another one. I do have more questions for you.’

‘Of course ya do.’ Nilesy carefully eyed the courtyard. ‘Tell me if anyone looks our way, alright?’

‘Sure...?’

Nilesy grinned. Next he snapped his fingers over the drink. The liquid rippled and blackened. Bubbles began to rise from deep in the black with no noticeable source.

‘Um.’ Rythian stared at Nilesy, who drank greedily from the mug. ‘What the hell is that...?’

‘Cola,’ Nilesy said cheerfully. ‘You had some when I was gathering up all your soul. It doesn’t exist here, massive pity that. So. You get to have a re-go at your second question, what’s your third?’

‘When you brought me back to life, you mentioned something about you “cheating.” What did you mean?’

‘Ah. This, is cheating,’ Nilesy said, raising the mug. ‘I call “cheating,” anything I do that’s not “normal”. Anything not normal for you lot, like creating a ton of copper out of nothing or Cola from beer, and anything not normal for Wranglers. Like, you know, not doing my job.’

‘And your job is to guide souls to hel- _the afterlife_.’

‘Yeah. You’re getting it. I’m in charge of this whole region of the planet. From the mobs to the people, if they die I throw their souls to their respective afterlives.' Nilesy suddenly looked like he was going to be hit with a mallet at any second. ‘And I do that, course I do that. It’s just... I, I’ve been sorta... letting people live.’ The last few words were said in a rush like air being let out of a balloon. Nilesy flinched, glancing nervously up at the sky as he did.

When nothing happened, Nilesy continued. ‘I’ve actually only cheated like that twice, so far. You, obviously. The other, well, they were meant to die but I was _there_ and I, I saved ‘em.'

Rythian glanced to the courtyard. There was again a lull in the music, and he heard Lalna shouting, ‘-positively no _way_ he wouldn’t straight up-’ before the music boomed again.

‘Was it Lalna?’ he said curiously.

Nilesy shot Rythian a flat glance. 'What? Thinking you managed to get him once and I saved him?'

'I was just asking. It would be ironic though. Both of us the only two people who technically died so far, and we want the other dead.'

Across the courtyard, Zoey was laughing brightly. Lomadia appeared to be attempting to climb up the roof to get to Toby. Meanwhile, Toby was yelling for Martyn to protect him from the "scary owl lady." Martyn didn't seem to be listening to his friend, instead fetching more punch. Zoey was floating beside the group, occasionally egging one or the other on.

Nilesy inclined his head. 'She was on a cliff, about to fall. I was meant to show up later and take her away but I was early. I didn’t know what to do. So of course, instead of letting her die, I saved her.'

'Lomadia?' Rythian said.

'Yeah. After that, I decided to cheat up _there_ too.' Nilesy drank again from the mug of "cola." 'Gotta be fair to you lot. Can’t just save one, it’s a bit unfair. So, that all your other questions?'

Rythian glanced at the group. Xephos had managed to escape from Sips and Sjin, yelling at them to stay away from the beer. Sips's smirk implied hell for the alcohol percentage of the other drinks provided. Above, Martyn fell out of the air and almost landed on Minty, who turned from Ravs and started yelling at Martyn instead.

Lomadia had reached Toby, or at least had reached the roof. The pair was darting across the roof, occasionally interrupted by an owl throwing acorns at Toby. Xephos yelled up at Lomadia, only to get an acorn thrown his way as well.

'One more question, then the favour. If I do kill Lalna-'

Nilesy hissed softly. 'Oooh, I was hoping you'd not. I honestly don't know what I'll do if one of you kills the other....'

'What do you want me to do? Wait for him to kill me? Let him kill everyone, me, Zoey, Lomadia?'

A groan and the placing of the mug was Nilesy's response. 'If you kill each other, I can't bring you back. I've already broken the rules. Don't interact and do your job, I've _shredded_ those now, and I'm not going to try calling _that_ much attention to me by breaking all your heads trying to make you let each other live. I won’t save _you_ if Lalna kills you. I won’t save Lalna if _you_ kill him. Now what’s your favour?’

Rythian leant back on the bench and studied Nilesy. His drink was almost empty, and he looked strange. After finding out he was really “death,” Rythian figured he’s have the classic “eyes that were aged beyond their mortal form.” But no, Nilesy looked the same as he had. Same glasses, same green tie, and probably same portable pools tucked away in a pocket. Although, now that Rythian knew that Nilesy could conjure liquids from nothing, perhaps those only existed when convenient.

‘Right. Favour. If Zoey dies, will you make sure she comes back?'

Nilesy lowered his eyes. 'I've only saved one person after they died. You. You’re the only one that’s died. It was _not_ easy. I had to bring the creeper back and hope you’d both stay off each other. And with your little feud with Lalna and Sjin, if she dies because of people then me bringing her back might cause even _more_ casualties-’

Rythian stood up. The music had fallen silent. Martyn was in the process of kidnapping the radio and holding it to ransom. The two bar folk looked like they were about to spring into violence, to Xephos’s clear frustration. Zoey was floating above Toby, who was in turn cowering on the roof and trying to wriggle away from Lomadia.

‘If she dies, can you at least try to save her?’

‘It wasn’t _easy_ you know, to bring _you_ back to life. I had to _drag_ reality backwards and hope like hell you didn’t get yourself killed, and that was not fun. Rewinding time isn’t exactly something you’re taught at the academy, and I don’t think you noticed but it took three tries for me to make sure the creeper didn’t decide to kamikaze on you! Lalna or Teep, or even _you_ could end up dead by mistake-’

‘Then I’ll die.’

Nilesy blinked. ‘I beg your pardon?’

Rythian smiled at Nilesy. It was an expression that looked dead. ‘If she dies, and someone has to die to keep her alive, I’ll take her place. Deal?’

‘It doesn’t exactly work that way, Rythian.’

‘You said that in trying to bring her back to life, other people might accidentally get killed in the same situation and you need to try again. If she’s in trouble, and you can manage to save her life at the cost of mine, then you’d better _fucking_ take that option instead of endlessly trying and giving up.’

At Rythian’s glare, Nilesy sighed. ‘Right then. If Zoey dies, she’s the priority. Gotcha. It’s not a guarantee, Rythian but... I’ll try.’

‘That’s all I need. Thanks.’ Rythian nodded to himself, lightness of the flying ring flooding through him. ‘I’ll see you around, Nilesy. Have fun with your... cola.’

‘What about your second question?’

Rythian chuckled. ‘Nah, I think I’ll save that. I’ll try and think of something interesting. Unless you want to volunteer some information?’

‘Nah. I’ve got a terrible perspective on what’s interesting with all this, apparently. Don’t do anything stupid on your way home; I’d hate to leave the party early.’

‘Will do.’ And with that, Rythian rose into the air, swooping and hovering until he was at Zoey’s side.

‘No! Please, I’m sorry I hit Mr. Owl, there, I said it, now let me down!’ Toby squealed.

Lomadia’s grin did not bode well for Toby.

‘I’ve got more acorns,’ Zoey was saying to one of the owls. It nodded to her, accepted the proffered acorns, and began pelting them at Toby. Rythian cleared his throat, and then spoke quietly.

‘Done.’

‘Oh. That means we have to leave now?’

Down below, a door slammed open. Honeydew dragged Lalna outside, dumping the scientist onto the fountain. Minty had tackled Martyn out of the air, and was yelling at Ravs to get the radio off the elemental. Martyn in turn was struggling to keep the radio from the pair, giggling all the while. Xephos seemed to have given up, and was eyeing the selection of drinks with suspicion and contemplation.

This party was turning chaotic, and would probably explode into even more insanity soon. Nilesy was hidden in the shadows on his bench, his laughter bubbling across the courtyard at the whole scene. It was definitely time to leave. Besides, Rythian got his favour, even if it was a bit flimsy. And he still had another question to think of.

‘Yes,’ Rythian said. ‘Let’s go home.’


End file.
